Picture-exhibiting apparatus.



l. A. CAMERON.

PICTURE EXHIBITING APPARATUS.-

APPLICATION FILED rmzz. lass.

Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

5 wue wto'c JG w 2X muse/A:

.I. A..CAMERON.

PICTURE EXHlBlTlNG APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED n25.21. x915.

Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

MU M TIL fin 8 nvewboz WWW UNITED STATES PATENT orricn.

JAIES A. CAMERON, OI BROOKLYN, NEW YQBK.

PICTURE-WRITING APPARATUS.

Specification or Letters ratent.

Application fled February 27, 1815. Serial No. 10,910.

-. to picture exhibiting devices and has more particularly reference towhat is commonly called astereopticon.

In theprior art of stereopticons it has been customary to exhibit thesuccessive views by means of slides inserted in the machine one afterthe other, and so far as applicant is aware no attegpt has evercorresponding parts in image been made to exhibit at irre ar'intervalsat the will of the operator successively'a series of still-lifestereopticon views by means of a continuous carrier having a series ofvarying and arbitrary images. The object of this invention is toovercome the slow and cumbersome method previously existing v inexhibiting stereopticon views by means of slides, and to this end theinvention consists in a continuous carrier having a series of varyingand arbitrary images, together with means for exhibiting said imagessuccessively as a series of stilllife stereo ticon views at irregularintervals at the wil of the operator. Other features of construction,combination of parts and arrangements of elements will appear as thespeclfication proceeds.

In the accompanying tion is disclosed in a concrete and preferred formbut changes may of course be made from the construction shown withoutdeparting from the legitimate scope of the invention as expressed in theappended claims.

In the said drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through amachine or device embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal transverse sectional view substantially on theline 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on the line 3-3of Fig. 1.

Figs. 4 and 5 are detail views'of the carrier. Similar characters ofreference indicate the difierent views. carrier which may 1 indicates animage drawings the inven-' be of any suitable character and the ima ofwhich may be arranged in any suita le way but preferably, as shown inFig. 3, .the images are'arranged in two parallel longitudinal series ona regulation film provided .with sprocket holes 2-inthe usual manner. Inthis instance, however, there will be four images to each four sprocketholes instead of one picture as it 1s now to have. In this way generallythe custom a greater number of views may be placed on the ima e carrierso that with a very um bei-Tof small roll 0 film a considerabl picturescan be obtaind.

The images on this carrier, which in the present instance is of atape-like formation and of a translucent character, may be illuminatedby means of reflected or transrnitted light but in the present instancea transmitted light is utilized.

As shown, the the sprocket wheel 3, thence past the exposure openingbetween the face plate-5 and the tension means 6, after which it passesover the .second sprocket 7 and thence over guide roller 8 and out ofthe machine. The sprocket 7 is provided with a knurled handle 9 which isturned by the operator the requisite distance to exhibit each picturesuccessively. In order to properly register each picture as it isexposed to the exposure opening 4 the sprocket 7 is provided with amember 10 having notches 11 in its surface, the distance betweensuccessive notches being equal to the distance required to bring a newpicture in front of the exposure opening. In conjunction with this alatch 12 is provided which rides on the periphery of the member 10 andwhich is spring-pres and upon the rotation of the sprocket is lifted outof engagement with its notch and automatically seats itself again in thenext notch when the image carrier has been advanced the pro erdistance.It will be understood that t e operator can turn the handle 9 to suithis own convenience and to successively bring a icture in front of theexposure opening an that such picture can remain there any length oftime desired by theoperator, so that the eifect produced is one of-astill-life picture or stereopticon view.

I The images carried b the carrier, are varying and arbitrary, t at isto say, series of these pictures should be exhibited in rapidsuccession. no motion picture efiect lfa Patented Apr. 9, 1918.

image carrier is passed over would be produced since each picture wouldnecessarily be distinct and different from the next picture. This ofcourse does not mean that the pictures are entirely unrelated, althoughtheymay be so.

13 indicates a stereopticon lens and 14 indicates an electric lamp forilluminating the picture. In order to conceal the image carrier duringthe period of transition from one picture to the next, or to produce aperiod of obscuration, a mechanically operated shutter may be utilized.In the present instance, however, the circuit 15 and source of current16 of the electric light is connected to the latch 12 and to therotatable member 10, the connection to the latter being by means of thebrush 17 The rotatable member 10 is provided with alternate insulatedand uninsulated portions 18 and 1950 arranged that upon the rotation ofthe rotatable member the latch 12 which forms one terminal of thecircuit engages the insulated portion 18, thereby breaking thecircuitthrough the lamp, and when it drops into the next notch 11 itagain makes contact and reestablishes the circuit so that the lamp islighted again. If the images should be out of register with the exposureopen- 111g 4 they maybe framed by loosening the nut 20 and by turningthe rotatable member 10 slightly the picture can be brought intoregister without displacing the relative circumferential relationbetween the said rotatable member and the latch. This movement ispermitted by means of the slot 21 on the said latch, After register isobtained the screw 20 is again tightened and the device may be operatedas before.

In the present construction the sprocket 3v also carries a rotatablemember 10 of the same construction as the one just described and inconnection with which there is also provided a latch 12 which performsthe same function as the latch 12 previously described. The member 10and the latch 12 adjacent to the sprocket 3 are likewise included in theelectric circuit 15 controlling the lamp, as shown. When an imagecarrier has been passed through the machine in one direction by therotation of the sprocket 7 it may be run back again in the oppositedirection through the machine by rotating the sprocket 3. In order tocarry this out properly the cams 22 and 23 are provided by means ofwhich the members 10 and 12 may be disengaged. In Fig: 1, where thesprocket 7 is intended to be operated, the cam 23 has been moved intoposition to raise the latch 12 out of engagement with the member, but ifit is desired to run the film in the opposite direction this cam 23 willbe lowered and the cam 22 will be elevated. The means for passing theimage carrier through the machine in opposite directions permits the useof an image carrier having image carrier is moved in one direction andthe other series is shown when the image carrier is moved in theopposite direction.

To this end the exposure opening 4 is made of the size indicated in Fig.3 so that only one half of the film is being exposed. When it is desiredto expose the other half of the film the bracket '24 which is mountedslidingly on the framework 25 by means of the slots 26 and screws 27 ismoved sidewise or transversely of the machine. Attached to this bracket24 is the slide 28 which by its lateral motion brings the exposureopening 4 in front of the other series of ima es and covers the firstseries of images. e lens 13 and the lamp 14 are likewise secured to thisbracket 24 so that simultaneously with the movement of the slide 28these instrumentalities are likewise shifted so as to bring them intofocus with the section of the 1m to be exposed. Of course if it isdesired to have larger pictures the image carrier indicated in Fig. 4may be used, 1n which it will be seen the two parallel series of imagesare still retained but are of twice the length of those shown in Fi 3,or if it is desired merely to run the through the machine in onedirection a full size picture such as shown in Fig. 5 may be utilized.

What is claimed, is:

1. A stereopticon comprising a continuous carrier having a series ofvarying and arbitrary images, means including a sprocket engaging thesprocket holes in the carrier for exhibiting said. images successivelyas a series of still-life stereopticon views at irregular intervals atthe will of the operator, means for locking the carrier to hold theimages in exhibiting position, and means for preventing the operation ofthe locking means.

2. A stereo ticon comprising a tape-like carrier provi ed with sprocketholes and having a series of varying and arbitrary images, meansincluding a sprocket engaging the sprocket holes in the carrier forexhibiting said images successively as a series of still-lifestereopticon views at irregular intervals at the will of the operator,means for locking the sprocket to hold the images in exhibitlngposition, and means for preventing the operation of the locking meanswhile a plurality of images are moved throu h exhibiting position.

3. i stereopticon comprising a continuous carrier having a series ofvarying and arbitrary images, llluminatin means, means for feedin saidcarrier 'ste y step a predetermine distance for eac step with relativelygreat intervalsof rest between feeding movements to thereby exhibit saidimages successively as a series of still-life stereopticon views atirregular intervals at the will of the operator, means for locking thecarrier to hold the images in exhibiting position, means for moving andholding the locking means out of lockmg position, and means forrendering1 the illuminating means inoperative when t e locking means isout of locking position.

4:. A stereo ticon comprising a tape-like carrier provi ed with sprocketholes and having a series of varymg and arbitrary images, illuminatingmeans, means including a sprocket engaging the sprocket holes in thecarrier for feeding said carrier step by step a predetermined distancefor each step with relatively great intervals of rest between feedingmovements to thereby exhibit said images successively as a series ofstill-life stereopticon views at irregular intervals at the will of theoperator, means for locking the sprocket to hold the images inexhibiting position, manually operable means for moving and holding thelocking means out of locking position, and automatically operable meansfor rendering the illuminating means inoperative when the locking meansis out of locking position.

5. 'In a picture exhibiting device, a means for advancing the imagecarrier ste by step past an exposure opening, a rotata le member havingnotches in its periphery moving with said means, a latch for engagementwith the notches of said rotatable member to indicate when the imagecarrier has been advanced a means for ad uSting the latchwith respect tothe rotatable member so as to permit the latter to shift the imagecarrier with respect to the exposure opening without disturbing therelation between the notches of the said rotatable member and the saidlatch.

Signed at New York city in the county of New York and State of lIewYork, this th day of February, A. D. 1915 JAMES A. CAMERON.

Witnesses: Axnn V. Bnnxmv, Tnnnsa V. LYNCH.

predetermined distance, and

It is hereby certified that in Letters Patent No. 1,262,578, grantedApril 9, 1918, upon the application of James A. Cameron,of Brooklyn, NewYork, for an Improvement in Picture-Exhibiting Apparatus, an errorappears in the printed specification requiring correction as follows:Page 2, lines -101, claim 1, strike out the words including a sprocketengaging the sprocket holes in the carrier and that the said LettersPatent should be read with this correction therein that the same Imayconform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.-

Signed andsealed this 9th day of July, A. 1)., 1918;

[sun] I I W. H. CLAY,

1 Acting Gomm'issioaer of Pate'rits. Cl. 88-28.

Correction in Letters Patent No. 1,262,578

